Bearing



April 3, 192s. 1,664,879

, G. FLINTERMANN BEARING l Filed May 24. 1926 4 si ,n

ATTORNEYS 1 Patented Apr. 3, 1928.

GERHARD FLINTEBMANN, F WEST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

BEARING.

Application-filed Kay 24, 1926. Serial No. 111,427.

This invention relates to improvements in bearings and is applicable to bearings of practicall all types, such as'thrust bearings, ournal bearings, slide bearings, vehicle earings and crank pin and crank shaft bearings. More particularly, the invention relates to bearings of that type 'in which the movement of the moving member tends to v cations I have disclosed di produce and maintain a wedre-shaped body of oil between a surfaceof the bearing and the surface of the moving member.'

While attempts/ have been made to produce a bearing in which such wedge-shaped bodies of oil will be produced and'maintained, these attempts have notbeen wholly successful due mainly to the fact that the bearing shoes or bearing projections heretofore employed have not yielded in the proper way and to the proper degree to favor the formation of the wedge-shaped bodies of oil. In various co ending applilrent types of bearings so designed that the wedge-shaped bodies of oil are readily formed and maintained. i According to this invention the bea-ring is so designed that the wedge-shaped bodies of oil` will be readily formed and maintained in either direction of movement of the moving member. In contradistinction to bearings heretofore proposed and in order to facilitate the formation and maintenance of the wedge-shaped bodies of oil, the bearing projections are mounted or formed directly onl yielding bearing elements in such a way that the bearing projection yields with the yielding portion of the element and partakes of its fiexure and does not materially interfere with the flexing and yielding of such yielding portion of the bearing element.

The main vobject of the invention is to provide a bearing of increased eiiciency in which one or more wedge-shaped bodies of oil will be formed between one or more surfaces of the bearing projections and the surface of themoving member, in either direc- -tion of movement of the moving member,

such wedge-shaped bodies of oil. being more readily formed and maintained than in bea-rings heretofore proposed.

Certain lother objects will appear fromthe following descriptlon.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the 'invention' as applied to several different types of bearings.

In'the drawings: y

Fig. l is a transverse section of a journal or axle bearing constructed in accordance with the invention and which is es eeially adapted for use on vehicles such as locomotives and the like;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section showin a modification of the type of bearing i ustrated in Fig. 1; j

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of a bearing bushing constructed in accordance with the invention and which is particularly adapted for use in crank shaft or crank pin bearings;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section throu h a thrust bearing constructed in accor ance with the invention the section being taken on line 4--4 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 5 is a face view of the shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a artial circumferential section taken on the l1ne 6--6 of Fi 5;

Fig. 7 is a view corresponding with Fig. 6, but illustrates a modified form of bearing element, and

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section of a slide bearing constructed in accordance with the invention.

In the bearing illustrated in Fig. 1 the moving member 1s represented at 1 and may be, for instance, the journal portion of a vehicle axle. The bearin element comprises a bushing section 2 w ich is supported at its ends by projections 3 formed on the bearing housing 4. The projections 3 space the major portion of the bushing 2 away from the housing 4 to provide a clearance 5 between the bushin and the housing. If desired, the ends o the bushing 2 may be rovided with projections 6 which enga 1n correspondingly shaped recesses in t e housing to anchor the ends of the bushing to thrust bearing the housing. The bushing 2 may be made of 'terminate short of. the supports, i. e. they d'0 not overlap the projections or sup orts 3 and so that one end of the'pad exten s the same distance toward the corresponding support 4as the other end of the pad extends towards its support. f In other words, the pad 7 is located midwa between the supports on which the bushlng is mounted, or otherwise expressed, is, located centrally of the supports or synmetrically disposedwith respect .to them.

If desired, the housing may be provided with a projection 8 which normally does not contact with the bushing section 2 but,

vint'o engagementA with whichthe bushing l correspondin oil ducts 9.

. and detlects the bushing to form -a wedge-shape l The operation of this type of bearing is as follows. Assume vthe member 1 rotates 1 n an anti-clockwise direction and that oil 1s fed'to the bearing in vany suitable way. The

oil forced through the ducts 9 or drawn through them by the rotation of the member lis forced along in the direction of rotation 2 in such a way as pocket between the surface of thepad 7 and the surface of the rotary member 1.l This ocket is filled with lubricant andA reduces t efriction between the bearing'- pad and the rotary member as it virtuall tends to' force the t'woapart. rThis wedge-s aped body of oil-will extend from 'the right hand set of ducts 9 toward the left the pad 7 with the wide -or entrance end of the wedge-sha space in the vicinity of the'right hand oi ducts. If the member 1 rotates 1n the opposite direction the wedgeshaped body of oil willbeformed as before because the pad 7 is symmetrically disposed with respect to the supports, but in this instanc'ethe oil wedgeawill extend from the left hand set of ducts 9 toward the right'end the pad 7 should be made uite thinso that i of thepad 7- with the wide or entrance -end of the wedge-shaped space in the vicinity of the .left hand oil ducts 9. l It will therefore be'seenthat the-oil wedge will be formed and maintained in either direction of rotation ofV the'member 1. y

The pad 7 being made of Babbitt metal Vwill-'yield withv the Vbushing section 2 and will partake of its iiexure. For 'this reason it will not interfere with t e roper flexingv of the bushing. Of course, e 7 ma be made of any other suitable may 'even constitute jan integral projection 'tion 2. has a bearing pad or bearing ection 7 and the bushing 2 has a s1 llar megeve to be later described, provided it still ields with the bushing and partakes of its exu1-e and does not materially interfere with the yielding of the bushin 'l Figure 2 shows a earing of the same general character asl that shown in Fig. 1 except that the bushino' section is divided into two parts 2 and 2 The central projection 8 on the housing inthis" instance forms a support at all times for the. adjacent ends of the bushingsections.

earing pad or bearing projection 7". The bearing projection 7 extends the same distance towards the support 3 that it extends toward the support 8 and the salneis true of bearingprojection 7 Each of thebearing pads is provided with a transverse groove 10 located about midway between its ends and these grooves are supplied with oil through the oil ducts 9. In the operation of this type of bearing when the member 1 is rotating in an anti-clockwise direction a wedgeshaped body of oil will be formed between the groove 10 in the` pad "7. and the left hand endof this pad, and at the same time a similar oil wedgewill be formed between the groove 10 in the bearing pad 7 and the left hand end of this pad. If the member l rotates in the opposite direction a 'wedge-shaped bodyA of oil will be formed between the. groove 10 in the bearin 7 and theright hand/end ofthis pa and a similar wedge-shaped body yof oil will be formed between the groove 10 in the bearing pad'7 and the right hand end of this pad.

In either case the wide or entrancel ends of the wedge-shaped spaces will be in the vicinity of the oil grooves and the smallends will be further along the pad in the direction of rotation. j j v Figure 3 shows a'bearing bushing adapted to be mounted in a housing in such a way that projecting feet 11 serve to space the intervening portions 12 of the bushing 'away from the housing. Between every two projecting feet 11 there is a relatively thin bearmg projection 13 each of which is arranged with respect to the supports 11 in the'samc way that the bearing projections are arranged in Figuresl 1 and 2. In this case the bearing projections are made integral with the portions 12. The bushing may be made 4of steel, brass or the like, or it may be' made entirely of any other suitable bearing-metal.

The portions 12 of the bushing between the 'supports 11 are adapted to yield ,and the projections 13 are sodesigned that they do notmaterially interfere with the yielding and deiection of suchportions 12.- The o il may be fed to the-bearingin any suitable way and foran-anti-clockwise direction of rotation of :the member 1 theA oil enter .the I space The bushing seci pad'i between each bearing projection and the surface of the member 1 at the rightl hand end of each bearing projection and an oil wedge will be formed under each bearing projection with the smallend of the wedge toward the left hand extremity of each bearing projection and the large end of the. wedge toward the right hand extremity of cach bearing projection and the large end of the wedge toward the right hand extremity of each bearing projection. For a clockwise direction of rotation of the member 1 the wedges will be formed with their large ends toward the left hand extremities of the bearing projections, and their small ends toward the right hand extremities of the bearing projection. The bushing is shown in Fig. 3 as being in one piece and continuous and may be used in this form where it is possible to slip it over the end of the shaft. However, it may be divided into two or more parts to facilitate assembling if so desired.

Figs. 4, 5, and 6 show a thrust bearing operating on the same principle. In this case the rotary member 1 has a ange 14 which abuts against the bearing elements mounted in a recess 15 of a stationary member 16. Each of the bearing elements comprises a bridge-like plate 17 i Fig. 6) having support ing feet 18 at its extremities to space .the intervening portion of the plate away from the bottom of the groove 15. The portion of each plate between the supports is adapted to yie d as in the other figures and each plate calriesfa bearing projection 19 which may bn a pad of Babbitt metal set in and anchored iii the plate. Each bearing pad is symmetrically disposed with respect to the supports 18 as in the other figures. Each bearing pad may be provided, if desired, with an oil groove 20 to which oil is fed by the oil ducts 21 passing through the thickness of the plate. The bearing elements may be held against longitudinal movement by stop' plates 22 secured to the bottom of the groove 15 and which abut against the supporting legs 18..

If the'bearing elements are mounted in a'- vertical plane it may be desirable to hold each of them in place by suitable means such as a coil spring 23 secured at one end to the bottom of the groove 15 and secured at its other end to the bottom of the plate 17. In one direction of rotation of the member 1 the oil wedge will be formed between the. groove 20 and the left hand end of each bearing pad and in the other direction of rotation of the member 1 the oil wedge will be formed between the groove 2() and the other end of each bearing pad. It will be noted from Fig. 6 that the oil grooves 20 are not placed exactly inthe center of each bearing pad. This may be desirable. for instance, where the moving member will 'operate in one direction most of the time. The groove 20 and its oil ducts 21 may be so located in such a case that the most eiiicient oil wedge will be produced for that particular direction ot' rotation in which the moving member opera-tes during the major partd of the time.

'lhe bearing plates 17 are arranged in a cir- `cular series as shown in Figure 5 and any suitable. number of the plates may bc used to make up the series.

lf desimred, the oil groove 20 and the oil ducts 21 may be omitted as shown in Figure 7 in which case oil will enter at one end of each bearing pad and will leave at the other end. However, in the type of bearing disclosed herein the oil ducts may perform an important part in increasing the efficiency of 'the bearing for the following reasons. lnasmuch as each bearing surface is supported at its forward and rear ends the deflection ot' the bearing element will, during movement of the moving member, reduce a clearance between thebearing sur ace andthe surface of the moving member which is thickest near its cent-ral portion `and thinnest near its oil entering and leaving edges. 'llierei'oreif the lubricant has to be fed to this clearance bat one end it must pass through an opening which :is so small, when the bearing is heavily loaded, that suticient lubricant may not be fed through the entrance opening to make the bearing operate eiiiciently. ln a bearing of this type there may be considerable leakage of lubricant from the sides of the bearing element, this leakage being commonly referred to as end leakage, and if the supply of lubricant through the small entrance opening is too restricted most of the lubricant will be lost by eiid leakage and not enough will accumulate near the leaving end of the clearance during heavy loads to produce an efficient oil wedge near this point. llVhen at least one oil duct is provided for, supplying the lubricant near the thickest part of the clearance the lubricant is admitted more Jfreely and as the distance fromtlie point where the lubricant is admitted to the leavin end of the clearance is much shorter, there 1s less opportunity for end leakage of the lubricant. The result is that sufficient lubricant will be maintained near the leaving end of the clearance to form itself into an'ellicient oil wedge that will prevent4 metal to metal contact at the leaving edge of the bearing surface because enough lubricant will reach this point. It is the lubricant at this point that completes the separation of metal from metal. Another advantage of this arrangement is lll() that the length of the oil wedge itself is leduced. The shorter the oil wedge the more elicient is the bearing because the internal friction in the lubricant is not so great. The

close approach of the metal surfaces at the' v26' is made u circle. If the bearing element is deflectedy in such a way that the clearance is Wedgeshaped throughout, that 1s, smallest at lts leaving end and widest atoentrance end, this` result'would not be accomplished because an 'abundant supply of lubricant would then be admitted at the extreme forward end of the clearance thus 'causing the formation of a relatively long and inefficient oil wedge. The lubricantmay be fed to the ducts by any suitable means. In the modification of Figure 7 the bearing elements are interlocked b y providing a shoulder 24 at one end of each element which engages over a correspondingshoulder 25 at the adjacent end of an adv'oining element.

Figure 8 shows a slide bearing for a reciprocating member 1. It may comprise one or more bushing sections 26v having end supports 27 and 28 which; serve to spacethe intervening portion of the bushing away from the housing'v 29. The bushing 26 is provided with a bearin projection 30 which may, if desired, be in t 1e form of a Babbitt pad set into the bushing. If the bushing of. several ,sections then the Babbitt mem er 30 will be divided into a corresponding number of sections. The pad is symmetrically disposed with respect to the supports and 1n either direction of rota-` tion of the `member 1 an oil wedge will be' `formed between the surface of the bearing projection and the surface of the member 1. In FigureS, as in the other figures, the por- .tion of the bush-ing between the supports 27 and 28 is adapted to mit the formation of t ield and flex vto perfie wedge-shaped body of oil.

In all of the figures described above the bearing projection Whether formed by a separate pad of Babbitt metal or the like or whether-made integral withthe yieldin section ofthe bearing element, is so design .that lit will yield with the yielding section of the bearing element and will partake of its flexure. -The bearing projections' being located midway between the points at which the bearing element is supported, or in other words being' symmetrically disposed with respect to the supports, the bearing may be l used for either direction of rotation or movement of the `moving member and regardless of the direction of rotation or movement of such member, a wedge-shaped body of oil will be formed between the surface of each bearing projection andthe surface of the moving member and this oil wedge will exist,7

somewhere between the extremities of each bearing projection.

The reason I prefer to position the bearing pads so thattheir ends do not overlap the supports is to facilitate the deflection of the bearing elements between the points of support. In other words this insures that all forces tending to deflect the elements willbe transmitted to them between the points of support. I have described the bearing projection or pad asbeing located midway between the supports, or symmetrically disposed with respect to them, because this will produce the most efficient typeof bearing for both directions of rota-tion and is the preferred form of bearing. However, even though the bearing projection or pad is not exactly midway between the supports a wedgelshaped body of oil will be formed in either direction of movement of the moving member provided the bearing projection or pad extends a substantial distance on either side of thecenter moves inone direction most of the time, be.

cause if there is a difference in the efficiency of the oil wedges, the bearing may be made to operate so that the most efficient wed e will be produced for that direction in which the moving member operates vmost of the time. f o

This application is a continuation in part of my application Seria-l N o. 46,548 filed July 28,1925.v

I claim: A

1. A friction bearing comprising two members one of which is movable relative to the other, a bearing element located between said members and having a yielding portion,

means for supporting said yielding portion at'two points splaced apart in the direction of t movement of t e moving member to provide a clearance under the yielding portion, said' 'yielding portion having a bearing projection they-surface of which'. is in relative sliding` enga 'ement with the surface oft e moving mem r and each end 'of which terminates short of the corresponding point of support,

' 3.. A friction bearing comprising. two mem- I bers one of which is movable relative to the other, a bearing element located between said members and' supported at at leastv two points spaced apart in the direction oi movement of the moving member to provide a clearance under the bearing element between the points of support, the portion oi the bearineelement between the points of support ing adapted .to yield and said portion o the bearing element between the points of support having a bearin projection the surface of which is in relative sliding engagement with the surface of the moving member and each end of which terminates short of the corresponding point of suppirt, the relation between one end of the ring projection and the corresponding -point of su port being the same as the relation between t eother end of the bearing projection and the corresponding p'oint of support, and said bearing projection being adapted to yield with said yielding portion of the bearing element and to partake of its exure. Y

4. A friction bearing comprising two members one of which is movab e relative to the other, a bearing element located between said members and having a. yielding portion, means for supporting said yielding portion at its forward and vrear ends to provide a clearance under the yielding portion, and a bearing projection located midway between the sup rting means the surface o which is in re tive sliding engagement with the surface of the moving member and said bearing projection being adapted to yield with the yielding portion of the bearing element i and to partake of its iiexure.Y

I n testimon whereof I aix m GE D FLIN TE siature. 

